This invention relates generally to online systems, and more specifically to presenting content to an online system user.
Online systems, such as social networking systems, allow users to connect to and communicate with other users of the online system. Users create profiles on an online system that are tied to their identities and include information about the users, such as interests and demographic information. The users may be individuals or entities such as corporations or charities. Because of the increasing popularity of online systems, and the significant amount of user-specific information maintained by online systems, an online system allows users to easily communicate information about themselves to other users and share content with other users. For example, an online photo and video sharing system generates content feeds for presenting photos and videos uploaded by its users to other users. In addition to photos and videos, other types of content uploaded and shared by online system users may be presented, such as stories describing actions performed by online system users, status updates, event announcements, activity invitations, location check-ins, or any other suitable information.
Additionally, entities may sponsor presentation of content items via an online system to gain public attention for the entity's products or services, or to persuade online system users to take an action regarding the entity's products or services. Many online systems receive compensation from an entity for presenting online system users with certain types of sponsored content items provided by the entity. Frequently, online systems charge an entity for each presentation of sponsored content to an online system user (e.g., each “impression” of the sponsored content) or for each interaction with sponsored content by an online system user (e.g., each “conversion”). For example, an online system receives compensation from an entity each time a content item provided by the entity is displayed to a user on the online system or each time a presented with the content item requests additional information about a product or service described by the content item by interacting with the content item (e.g., requests a product information page by interacting with the content item).
Online systems commonly present their users with a feed of content items including sponsored content items as well as content items selected for presentation to the users by the online system based on the content items and characteristics of the user. As users of online systems more frequently access content via mobile devices or other devices with a limited display area, an online system may combine multiple content items into a scrollable content unit to reduce the display area in which content is presented without reducing the amount of content presented to users. For example, a feed of content presented on a mobile device may include a scrollable content unit including multiple content items and presenting a single content item to a user at one time. When a user interacts with the scrollable content unit, a different content item included in the scrollable content unit is presented to the user. This allows an online system to present multiple content items in a minimally obtrusive manner while increasing a number of content items capable of presentation to the user, which increases the number of opportunities for the online system to obtain revenue from entities in exchange for presenting content items.
Conventional scrollable content units presented on a client device allow users to navigate through the scrollable content units via certain interactions with a scrollable content unit. For example, a user performs one or more interactions with a portion of a display device presenting a scrollable content unit to view different content items included in the scrollable content unit (e.g., by swiping a portion of a touchscreen interface presenting a content item from the scrollable content unit with a finger or stylus). However, conventional scrollable content units merely allow users to view different content items included in the scrollable content units and do not allow a user to easily additional content associated with one or more content items included in the scrollable content unit (e.g., a web page or website associated with a content item in the scrollable content unit or an additional feed of content associated with a content item in the scrollable content unit). For example, conventional scrollable content units do not allow users to access additional content associated with a content item included in a scrollable content unit through one or more interactions with the scrollable content unit.
Conventionally, to access additional content associated with a content item included in a scrollable content unit, a user accesses a link associated with the additional content within a content item included in the scrollable content unit, causing presentation of the additional content in place of the feed including the scrollable content unit. Alternatively, the user navigates away from the feed including the scrollable content unit and manually enters a link to access the additional content. However, these interactions require additional effort by the user and increase the complexity of the user accessing additional content. This increased complexity in accessing additional content may reduce user interaction with the feed of content item, which may reduce opportunities for the online system to generate revenue from presenting content items sponsored by an entity to users.